I'm not sure where this thread best belongs... In the bin probably... but, here goes:
As you may recall from earlier writings, I have a bent shaft on my alternator. In fact, it's bent at the bearing housing, so far as I can tell, probably as a result of being dropped. Runout at the pulley edge was around 3/4" as I recall.
You may also recall that it transpires my alternator is in need of a rewind, which may be expensive (maybe not, feelers are out).
At any rate, if I'm going to straighten this shaft, I have two options:
1) Continue disassembling the core, It may require unwinding in order to reveal the rest of the shaft, if it was wound in-situ, rather than slipped over on a core. Given it needs to grip the shaft quite tightly, I'm thinking it's probably wound straight on.
2) Use a fettling hammer to straighten the shaft near the bearing.
This is a fettling hammer:
This is what the alternator core looks like right now:
Although it's not totally clear, there's a threaded section outboard of the roller bearing. This is where the bend begins. My plan is to straighten the shaft as well as possible, without damaging the bearing. Here's how:
1) I'll make a steel sleeve, internally threaded, which screws onto that section of the shaft. The sleeve will be a moderately tight fit in a much bigger lump of steel, which will serve to hold everything in place, The back of the alternator will be supported in a wooden "bearing", like it is now.
2) I'll make another sleeve, with an ID as close as possible to the OD of the shaft, but loose enough I can slide it on & off without any binding, probably 3mm thick steel.
3) The alternator will be rotated so the bend in the shaft is upwards (a dial indicator will help me to position it), whereupon it will be locked in place with some form of grub screw device, and fettled with the Big Fuck Off Hammer. To put that in English, I'll repeatedly wang the end of the shaft, in a vertical direction, with the hammer. After a couple of shots, I'll stop & re-check it all with a dial gauge to see if a) anything moved and, if it did, b) what direction it moved in and c) how much more it needs. Rinse & repeat.
4) Once fettled, the various protective devices will be removed, leaving a now straight shaft ready to be re-installed
Anyone see any drawbacks with the plan, as outlined?